COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering was in Columbus this afternoon talking about his record as the guest speaker for the Lowndes County Republican Women.

Pickering has been in office as State Auditor since 2007. In that time, he’s helped facilitate 150 guilty pleas and recovered nearly 20 million dollars in state funds. He says public corruption erodes tax payer trust and his office will continue to hold those who break that trust, accountable.

“At the Auditor’s Office, we’ve been very aggressive in finding public corruption in Mississippi. It’s been several reports, some saying we’re the most corrupt state in the nation. Others say that we’re one of the best states at enforcing our public corruption laws. That’s the reason we have state legislation this year that will actually remove the state contribution to their retirement system if their convicted of public corruption,” says Pickering.